Will India's youth policy work?

You can never read too much into one match, especially when it's the first that several members of the team have played on Australian soil. The opening game of the CB Series may have been abandoned, but it gave most Indians a glimpse at the future, of a day when a team devoid of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly - more than 60,000 international runs between them - takes on the world. At the Gabba, the middle order spoke of the new beginning - Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary and Robin Uthappa. 

Tiwary was filling in for Yuvraj Singh, but the others were there on merit, though Suresh Raina may dispute that. They contributed 75 between them, with Gambhir and Sharma taking the game to Australia during a sprightly 65-run partnership. Ultimately though, Brett Lee and friends proved too hot to handle, on a green pitch where batting first was always likely to be fraught with risk.

Afterwards, Peter Roebuck wrote of Lambs to the Slaughter. Headlines always tend to be a little more dramatic than the text that lies beneath, but he certainly had a point. It's certainly time for India to look to the future - they could have given Dravid and Ganguly more dignified farewells though - but it's a moot point whether the new boys are good enough yet to take on the likes of Lee.

Roebuck's main point was that the growing influence of Twenty20 cricket must be checked, with primacy given to Test matches and the 50-over game. He's right. Gambhir and Sharma became stars after the T20 win in South Africa last September, but none of the four has enjoyed what could be called a monumental domestic season. Sharma and Uthappa were downright poor for Mumbai and Karnataka, while Tiwary had some mediocre performances after his heroics last season.

Lest it be forgotten, the likes of Dravid and Ganguly came into the team on the back of an avalanche of runs in domestic cricket. The same goes for VVS Laxman, who turned down the chance to open for India and stockpiled 10 centuries at domestic level before being shoehorned back into the middle order. The new generation of players simply aren't putting up those kind of scores. As Roebuck wrote, any fool can swipe a six. Playing your way out of a crisis situation is another story.

One-day cricket can be biff-bang-wallop fun when the openers have given you a platform. But when you come in at 10 for 2, the rebuilding process is not too dissimilar from Tests. It's just that you have to show a little more urgency. Sharma looked the part on Sunday, but Gambhir continues to walk the tightrope with his shot selection.

Ravi Shastri, one of the better judges of talent that India has, reckons that Tiwary has it in him to be the best of the lot, and you do hope that he isn't pushed aside after just one outing. Uthappa resembles Gambhir in his cavalier method, and if that fails to work, Raina will surely be back in the frame. For Greg Chappell, he was the first among young equals, and you don't argue with a man who helped bring through the likes of Boon, Marsh and Stephen Waugh when he was an Australian selector.

India need to move on from that Twenty20 triumph now. The focus must be on challenging Australian hegemony in the Test and one-day arenas, and for that you need batsmen who can bat with composure for at least 50 overs. Apart from the paucity of quality spinners, there are few fears on the bowling front, but the young batsmen have it all to do before they can even be considered inheritors of a famous legacy.

Comments

[bunty]

vrv, yusuf pathan and rahane have had good duleep tourneys; rahanes knock was on a belter but vs a better attack than most in domestic; showed good temperament too; vrv -well i wish he got 3 tests in a row a few good slips and settled the issue once n for all as to whether he makes the grade; if he fails again the just forget him; but there occassional spells when he looks a very good bowler as in RSA last year; akaash chopra has done enough for a recall but i suspect selectors will prefer to give gambhir another chance- rahane may have to wait another season; yusuf pathan is one to watch out for- he bowled tight in good batting conditions in 1st innings, was unplayable on the last day and outperformed powar normally considered the best traditional finger spinner in india today; do i think hes a worthy successor to ghulam ahmed, pras, venkat, kanwaljit singh or bhajji at his prime not to mention a few unlucky to play in ghulam or prasanna's shadow? no; but he's a better fielder than most of his competitors, one of the hardest hitting batsman in the country, and what is the role of spin in the indian team today? after kumble goes with bhajji in decline spin will play a supporting role to zak (or rp or irfan) +sreesanth+ishant with vrv, sangwan n others in the wings; in that case too if we had a prasanna, bedi, chandra, gupte, ahmed or a mankad or kumble or venkat or durrani or doshi or kanwaljit or bhajji of a few seasons back, i'd prefer that spinner; but since we dont, yusuf pathan with an ability to bowl tight in good conditions and exploit a deteriorating pitch is increasingly looking like he could fill in well for that supporting role; he would benefit too from kumble's guidance if he got it; he has limitations but may learn well from kumble how to be effective nonetheless and gain subtle variations in flight, pace, line, length, angle, use of crease etc.-he could become an effective bowler despite limitations; kumbles performance abroad in recent years (but stll not in top 5 overall career for away tests for indian spinners)is pretty good compared to many famous names of the past; and indeed only chandra and gupte career averaged under 30/wkt in overseas tests for india; moreover, indian spinners have recently sometimes dissapointed on the few deteriorating last day pitches theyve encountered abroad; yusuf pathan looks like he'd cash in on those

[bunty]

i also agree re wk despite dhoni's charisma; parthiv has been in form; but suddenly as in the 60s a number of wk who look like they can bat have sprung up after a dearth for many years- kaul of punjab is promising, h das has done well for east, pinal shah of baroda, rawat-railways, theres not that much to choose amongst them; but on subcontinental pitches dhoni may have an edge and most of indias tests in next 18 months are in the sub-continent

[bunty]

its easy to see y a former coach who emphasised fielding n fitness would like kaif and raina; yes its true kaif got a long rope but didnt cash in but now appears to be buckling down as per recent domestic form; rainas style is best suited on paper for oz conditions but the proof of the pudding... he must get a fair chance vs oz in 2-3 games in the top 5; vs sl his vulnerability to away swing/away spin on off stump especially early on maynt help; but real test would be vs oz and on paper he has the best suited game so it is a shame

[Phoenix]

Dileep, thoughtful column as always. But (ah...there is always one), feel you are a bit unfair on Uthappa. He is as good a hitter as Dhoni or Sehwag and has a temprament to match. Watch highlights of the failed 317 chase against Aus at Nagpur last year for an example! Gilchrist says Aussies rate him very highly! What about this - my prediction, Uthappa will play at least one blinder of an innings this series against Aus!

[Dileep]

If that is the case, and I'm not saying it is, don't you think it pathetic that a player is "punished" for being the former coach's favorite?

[IPL]

I have always been impressed with Suresh Raina and there is simply nobody who matches Kaif fielding abilities in India today. But Kaif has failed repeatedly with the bat -lost form or lack of confidence. And he was out of team. But the more established bats have the luxury of losing form and gettting it back and selectors will back them. There's obviously nobody to bat for Raina and Kaif in the selection committee or the other reason may be that they where Greg Chappell's favorite and the current selectors don't want them in the team

[Dileep]

I still maintain that Kaif was very harshly treated after that 2004 series against Australia. He was one of the few to show the guts to take on McGrath and Gillespie, even at Nagpur.
Not seen Parthiv keep of late, but if he's improved, he's certainly a contender. Dhoni and Karthik are certainly not automatic picks in the way that a Tendulkar is.

[Tarun Y]

Hi Dileep,

"Nothing like a tour of Australia to separate the real deals from the pretenders. Those that succeed here will surely go on to greater things. "

Playing devil's advocate here:

If that's true- then surely Parthiv Patel ought to be right at the top of the pecking order for the WK-batsman's slot (at least for Test Matches anyway) as he has notched up a few fifties against Australia both home and away?! Surely ahead of Dinesh Karthik at the very minimum then ... ?

And what of Mohd Kaif? If test match performances against Australia are the barometer, then he must be placed ahead of the likes of Yuvi, who has struggled both home and away, against the Aussies!

Your thoughts please.

[Dileep]

We'll know soon enough about Uthappa and everyone else. Nothing like a tour of Australia to separate the real deals from the pretenders. Those that succeed here will surely go on to greater things. Those that get worked over might never make it big.
Gambhir did his bit today, but all judgments have to be based on performances against Australia, and especially Lee in prime form.

[Tarun Y]

Hi Dileep,

I think you may be a little unfair on dumping Uthappa (solely and wholly) into the "Twenty 20" bucket?

After all- he was picked for the (disastrous) world cup in the west indies, and that was because of some good form he showed in ODIs prior to that.

His debut against England, some good knocks against WI and SL spring to my mind.

I do, however, feel he is wasted at no6 or 7. He should be either opening or coming in at no.3 (where he does for the Twenty20).

what are you thoughts?

[kinshuk]

one game, nd the daggers are out......

to begin with, the youth policy is absolutely right......if new players are not introduced right now, then what should be done..... go into the next world cup with a side of middle-aged men.....

the fielding and running between wickets has improved..... rohit sharma looked good in the first game, and was done in by the umpire today, gambhir and dhoni scored today......yuvraj nd uthapa need to get their acts together....(but, isn't it too soon to write them off)

and the fast bowling department's troubled even the aussies in their backyard...........

and when ganguly was picked last year, he was also not the guy with the most runs in the domestic league.....if bringing back a 34 year old without extraordinary ranji performances is ok, then i don't see why these players, who've shown a spark whenever given a chance shouldn't get a go.......

[Bhutti82]

I would agree with Dileep's point that the younger players need to learn the art of scoring big consistently.

However having watched a bit of domestic cricket over the last two seasons, I do think that Gambhir, Manoj Tewari, Rohit Sharma and Utthappa have done enough to warrant a place and a bit more responsibility for the team.

The impressive numbers of Ganguly and Dravid camouflage the fact that Indians were playing dated cricket in ODIs. A record of 3-4 against England, 2-3 against Australia and 3-2 against Pakistan shows that selectors have not really gone for a fix when nothing was broken - The Indian ODI has been leaking for sometime and it does need a repair.

Secondly, the presence of senior players at the top of the order meant that guys like Utthappa and Sharma would mostly bat at number 6 or 7 - hardly the position to learn the art of innings building.

Finally, the pitches in Australia may actually be the best way to weed out some of the chinks in the armour of these young kids. While the pitches in domestic cricket have indeed become much more bowler friendly in the past few seasons, their predominantly slow pace still allows batsmen to get away with bad habits like playing across or plonking the front foot for everything.

I hope that selectors are patient and do not lose hope with just a few failures.

And while I do not want to tempt fate, just watch out for Tewari - while Sharma is a very good classical player (two of his innings in Sharjah for India A reminded me of Laxman with the gorgeous cover drives), Tewari is just a force of nature who can counter attack fearlessly at number 5.

[bunty]

venugopal rao, badrinath, kaif, a chopra and now pujara n yashpal singh n tanmay s(except pujara the others are fine fielders too, pujara should work on fitness n fielding)dont appear to have problems playing long innings in the longer format- but rao (fine 2nd innings player) was asked to prove himself in pyjama cricket, tried to change and his game fell apart; akash chopra dropped by dada as he didnt have yuvi's glamour; badri seems to have lost heart as his efforts go unnoticed by selectors; kaif was allowed to take his odi place for granted too long and not given a chance now that hes buckling down; playing plate for services doesnt help yashpal who looks the soundest indian domestic batsman on greentops; pujara has played well especially in adverse 2nd innings, tanmay srivastav appears to have fine technique n temperament but needs another domestic season n a 'A team tour to RSA or oz; r sharma looks a class act on flat pitches but a lil suspect in adverse conditions;
but what do you expect? junior cricket ignores the longer format, is played on belters, not on turners or greentops; spinners rare and advised not to flight but keep it tight; no genuine pace bowlers or fast,bouncing tracks; more future opportunities and money n glamour in pyjama cricket;
so its easy to name the few batsman in recent seasons who have looked like they could have potential in the longer game; but few doesnt mean none, the selection policy hasnt given a chance in tests to the few domestic batsmen who have looked like having test potential (favouring instead the glamour pyjama cricket boys) when a senior is out of form or injured or otherwise dropped.
maybe if we could have not more than 8 franchisee first class teams playing round robin domestic day-night 4 day matches with the glamour, money and tv rights of t20 then we would indeed be turning out far more players of test material

[rahul]

The youth plays like it knows nothing other than 20-20 cricket. So fine let them be the 20-20 national side. Frankly they are starting to look like an embarrassment as a one day side. Dhoni's claims of having players with 80 one days in their caps around 2011 is beginning to scare me. At the current rate we will probably not win too many of them then. And what does that do the morale of the team prior to the world cup? And how does a team low on morale perform in a world cup?

Performance should always always win over youth. If there arent any better 20 yr olds, then a bunch of 90 yr olds be it.

[bunty]

problem is the players selected not the policy -most have not been in form in the recent ranji perhaps as their places were assured after t20 wc; gambhir has been in form but has never looked like making the grade at higher levels especially abroad; raina could do well in oz but is vulnerable to away swing/away spin on his off stump; badrinath seems like venugopal rao earlier to believe that nothing he does in domestic matters and seems to be giving up; kaif may go that way too if overlooked further; rohit sharma has potential but on tricky pitches in india has been unreliable; yashpal singh plays plate for services and will not get the break at higher level he merits- sound technique too in green conditions; pujara is test material should be kept away from pyjama cricket for now; yusuf pathan looks a natural for pyjama cricket (has to improve bowling for tests) but not selected; a couple of players chose the icl route n are out; t srivastava, sangwan, rahane are young; and is there a young spinner out there in india with necessary potential- i dont see any?

[Homer]

Mr Premachandran,

It could also be that we are looking at the wrong data to analyze the quality of batsmen and their batsmenship.

VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and to an extent Rahul Dravid had horror runs in the current Ranji Trophy.

And yet, they delivered on the big stage.

Tiwary, Sharma, Raina, Gambhir and Uthappa have been very consistent in scoring their runs over the last two seasons - on wickets more bowler friendly than I have seen in my lifetime - could it just be that we are focusing too much on occupying the crease instead of the runs scored?

Cheers

[Dileep]

Homer, the numbers you mention only serve to emphasise my point. India are not producing enough batsmen with the temperament and quality to play long innings. And that's a worry.

[Dileep]

I think Sri Lanka are a very fine side, and they have an outstanding chance of making the finals. Sangakkara and Jayawardene are class, and you can always expect the odd flash of brilliance from Jayasuriya. Will be interesting to see how relatively new faces like Kapugedera go.

[Peter b]

I think the title indicates the problem.

It is not a case of will it work but a case of it must unless you want seventy year olds in the team.

On a side issue and not wanting to take anything away from India's fine win in Perth nobody has commented on the inexperience of the Australian team.

The opening batsmen had five tests between them and in the bowling Clarh, Tait & Johns wouldn't have totaled 30 tests.

[Mick Dundee]

Hi Dileep,
Another thoughtful column. Unfortunately it looks like the selectors of both teams will get another opportunity to experiment on Friday. The chances of the game going the full distance are pretty remote as we are currently having the wettest February in Sydney for years.
Whoever bats second will almost certainly be chasing twenty20 style target like the one set on Sunday by the eponimous messrs Duckworth and Lewis. The sloggers will then get another chance to shine.
I'd be interested to hear how you the think the Lankans will go in the triangular comp. Do you think they have a chance of making the finals?

[Homer]

Mr Premachandran,

I think this whole argument of runs made by Dravid and co in the Ranji's in the 90s to the runs scored ( or lack thereof) by the current crop this season is facetious.

Last season, across the 100 odd matches ( Plate and Super League), there was 1 triple hundred and 3 double hundreds.

This season had 6 double hundreds and 1 triple.

The win/loss percentage in last years Ranji season was marginally above 50%.

Last season saw the greatest comeback in Ranji history by a team.

This season was the closest Ranji Trophy season ever.

How do these numbers compare with the time when Dravid and co plied their wares in the Ranji Trophy?

Also, Ganguly was picked in 92 and dropped - until 96. Rahul Dravid could not make himself a certainty for the One Day side till he donned the big gloves. And what were Laxman's returns in ODI's when he started out?

And coming back to the game itself, India may have collapsed and the new kids on the block may not have come out smelling of roses, but India was still in the contest when the rains came.

And that, I believe, is more important than comparing eras or runs scored!

Cheers